stokebynightfandomcom-20200216-history
June 2001
Bureaucracy, Finance, Health, Media, Politics With the election campaigns now in full swing and each of the main parties seemingly only to be taking swipes at each other, it would seem that the decision of Sean Bowden to stand as an independent candidate was the right one. Mr. Bowden, who was formerly a member of the Labour party, is standing for the “Five-Towns Party”, stating that the politicians should be more concerned with their constituents than the national agenda. Under the motto of “Look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves”, Mr. Bowden continues to propose radical changes for Stoke, beginning with the redevelopment of the current hospital sites, a project that he began whilst still a member of the Labour party. Mr. Bowden is now the current favourite to win the local seat on June 7th. Bureaucracy, Finance, Industry, Media, Politics, University On its way to becoming its own little community, The Hartshill Development Project has now been completed with all of the homes occupied. Despite interest shown by the local universities, it has been decided that the houses will be primarily for the use of families, in line with government strategies to promote the ideal family unit. However, now that the project is completed, questions to the manner in which it was funded have begun to emerge as local councillors argue over the amount of funding that was to be provided by business to the project. MCC seem keen for this matter to resolve itself, they have yet to receive payment for the work that took place during the latter months, but as part of the success story are keen not to lose any potential involvement in the proposed changes to the local health departments. Health, Media, Police, University Whilst the Foot & Mouth Crisis now coming to an end despite isolated incidents in the north of the country, government officers still seem to be operating within Stoke-on-Trent. If reports are to be believed, members of the CDSC are working in conjunction with both Castelan and Universities, although all parties are keen to deny such rumours. It has however been confirmed that the number of cases of flu have continued to rise in the area despite the overall national downward trend. It is thought that the continued poor health of the city may be a sign of continuing high unemployment and poverty in the city. Police, Street, Underworld The gang war continues, with neither side being able to claim victory at the moment. What is becoming clear are the differing styles of the main parties, with the “Gambino’s” adopting a more old style approach to the job and an ever increasing propensity towards violent confrontation. In contrast Sandernacht seems to be little hit by these measures, despite the seemingly massive property damage that has incurred. Castelan’s policy on the matter seems to be clear, with the number of incidents at which they have called in “firepower” increasing, and a zero-tolerance edict on gangs being involved. Individuals sporting suspicious symbols are now being questioned on sight. Church, Media, Police, Street Spokesmen for both the Muslim and Hindu communities have come forward to discuss the matter of the local enforcement groups that have been operating in Stoke. Whilst the issue of the so-called Asian Militia was originally attributed to possible racial tension in the area, it has been stated by community leaders that all are indeed welcome in the area provided that their intentions do not run contrary to those of the community. Castelan continue to discuss the matter and are keen to point out the overall drop in crimes being reported as a direct result of the continued community spirit. Bureaucracy, Legal, Media, Police, Politics, Street Castelan are continuing to seek further powers of arrest, with continued closed court proceedings surrounding the matter. Despite numerous speculations, no clear answers have emerged of what they are actually asking for, although the four months of deliberation suggest that the proposals are going to be controversial. The discussions have also involved local council leaders who were questioned regarding the possible community reaction to the proposed changes, but all parties are under court order not to discuss the matter outside of the hearings. High Society, Media, Police, Politics The opening of the six towers at the heart of The Phoenix Project was a great success, with much of the good will vibe spilling out into the surrounding streets. Castelan reported that no arrests were made of individuals involved in the celebrations and praised the behaviour of the crowd. Despite the high number of celebrities present at the event, who continued to mingle with the crowds long into the night after the ceremony was officially over; it was Sean Bowden performed the ribbon cutting. Media, Occult, Police Heavy localised storms have been blamed for the destruction of Hanley Park Castle with the nearby celebrations surrounding the opening of The Phoenix Project preventing emergency services from getting to the scene in time. Castelan were quick to seal off the area and begin investigations into the possibility of arson. It was later stated that lightning was believed to have struck oil that was being stored in one of the towers. Since the event GAOM have cleared the area making it safe for the public to view the ruins. Church, High Society, Media, Occult, Police, Politics Despite the best efforts of a number of parties the “Tell-Tale Murals” continue to make appearances at inopportune moments in the city. Whilst Castelan and the local government seem keen to clean up the murals as soon as possible, the media does not share this sentiment after a particular graphic mural presented a known council member in an interesting position with a number of masked individuals who he clearly knew quite well made an appearance. After questioning by other members of his party, the individual was forced to resign, but has since made appearances at a number of parties held by the city’s more select community. Church, Occult The mystery preacher, Nicholas Raymond continues his recruitment drive in the cities churches, preaching to any that will listen to his rhetoric against the hidden evils of society. Raymond became something of a cause-celeb earlier in the year when he appeared in the city apparently on the hunt for an as yet unidentified individual, but has seemed to quieten down of late. Rumour also has it that he has been seen conversing with a number of the city’s more esoteric community figures, perhaps narrowing his search. Church, Health, Occult, University Once again the number of births in the city increased during the month of May, peaking during the third week. Both the church and the health service seem keen to downplay the significance of this, stating it as nothing more than a statistical anomaly. Others say there is more to the situation than there appears to be and that “statistical anomaly” doesn’t really cut it, especially when compared with other similarly sized towns in Europe. Bureaucracy, Industry Authorities have begun to question the speed with which plans of the cities sewer systems were updated following the construction of the Hartshill Project. What is unusual is that the plans did not exist on computer and that no one can find any record of information being received from MCC regarding the nature of their construction. High Society, Media, Police, Street, Underworld The ongoing gang war erupted onto the streets of Newcastle last month, with running battles between the two groups as they took advantage of the heavy Castelan presence in Hanley for opening of The Phoenix Project. Castelan were quick to deploy teams to the area, but by that point the town had already received heavy property damage and shopkeepers were particularly hard hit. With the focus on Hanley as a centre now, it seems that the fortunes of Newcastle may begin to fall. Bureaucracy, Finance, High Society, Industry, Media Can you find anything wrong with The Phoenix Project? Apparently King Industries did. Not content with merely owning one of the clubs that in within the towers, it felt the need to include what has been described as an “underground palace”, despite the heavy requirements for altering the entire structure it would entail. Needless to say the proceedings were thrown out at the planning stage, although this didn’t stop the rumours damaging the value of the company after many started to question the validity of the current management to even contemplate such a scheme. Police, Street, Transportation Attempts to smuggle arms into the city disguised as parts of ordinary shipments have met with no success, with many local transport groups working closely with Castelan, and co-operating in searches of all suspect goods coming into the city. So far this seems to have netted mixed results, although all parties are keen to point out that the confiscation of any firearms is a good point. Getting hold of a useable weapon seems to be getting harder and the recent hand-to-hand skirmish in Newcastle seems to point to all parties returning to older methods of creating havoc. High Society, Media A number of clubs in the north of the city seem to be favouring clientele who can speak Italian, giving them preferential treatment. Whilst some are addressing this as merely a fad the media seem to be championing this more cosmopolitan attitude as a sign of us moving into Europe. Speaking Italian only gets you so far however, with several note-worthies being turned away from these clubs for not fitting in with the rest of the crowd. Bureaucracy, Finance, Health, Industry, Legal, University It’s exam time again and students are being targeted by health groups to reduce the affects of stress within the community, especially given the overall rise in the number of cases being reported by GP’s. In addition it is hoped that many local businesses and professions will make attempts to keep graduates in the city to help raise the overall skill levels of the workforce and combat the continued downward trend. The local health authority has proposed that the lack of fulfilling work in the area might be a reason for the general poor health of the region. Finance, Legal, Police, Underworld Following a number of high profile arrests of believed figureheads in the city’s underworld community, several Judges have come forward as character witnesses for all parties, stating they are no more than misunderstood business figures. Several of the individuals arrested were members of the local banking community, but later investigation by Castelan cleared them of all wrongdoing. Still, some speculate that unlike Scarab, Castelan may be more open to bribes from the right parties. Media, Politics, Transportation The A500 was shut down for several days after a lorry carrying toxic chemicals jack-knifed. The accident calls into question the matter of the supposed “greenness” of the city. Stoke has long been touted as a green city, but the nature of the chemical, which is believed to have been part of a possible bio-chemical weapon, raises questions of whether the authorities are turning a blind eye to certain shipments.